Surprising myself

It's Sunday morning and I've been awake since 6:00 am, in anticipation of having to test Kittie's glucose. 

Last week I mentioned being nauseous at the very idea of pricking my cat's ear, and yesterday at the Vet's office was no different.  Hubby hasn't been feeling very well, but he gave it a go first and then it was my turn.  I positioned myself behind Kittie, as the doctor instructed, and flattened her ear with my thumb while holding the lancet tightly in my other hand.  As I went to press the needle in, Kittie turned her head to look up at me and leveled her green eyes right on mine.

Damn she's good.

The doctor thought so too.  "She certainly knows her mommy."

I reminded myself that I was doing this for Kittie's own good.  Eventually, after a few missteps, I did it.  And then the doctor asked me to do it again, to ensure I was comfortable.

Did I mention I think Hubby has the swine flu?  He's got the chills, fever, sore throat and his chest hurts when he coughs.  I've been attending to him like a good Florence Nightingale, but I still sort of begged him to wake up with me this morning for moral support.  He attempted to prick Kittie's ear first, which didn't go well at all.  The lighting was dim and that vein was hard to see.  Soon after, Kittie started hacking really bad, which completely freaked us out.  It was awful.  At the Vet's office, she'd been calm and hadn't flinched once.  This morning she was obviously upset and scared, and I decided right then to scrap the whole blood testing thing altogether.  It was just too much.  I must've been crazy to think we could do this, in addition to the insulin injections!  We'd just have to take her to the vet for this kind of thing. 

I went into the kitchen and took a deep breath.  If this was going to work, I needed to be the one to do it.  Not Hubby, me.  And then something dawned on me.  I closed my eyes and uttered a single, simple prayer.  I picked Kittie up, placed her on the table, and proceeded to pierce the small vein in her ear with the lancet.  Her blood sugar was 298.

"Good job, babe!"  Even though he was doped up on Nyquil, Hubby could still appreciate my accomplishment.  I think he was as shocked as I was.

It was nothing short of a miracle.  That's all I can say.  Hopefully I can deliver an encore performance this evening.  xoxo

Comments

[Sissy]

A cat in Ohio or somewhere was diagnosed with swine flu. I'm just saying....

[the odd broad]

Don't even go there girlfriend.

[Amy]

Nice job!

[sue]

congratulations! i knew that you'd be able to handle it!

[Kathleen]

Sissy is right - I read about that cat with the swine flu too! But don't worry, she is recovering nicely :)

BTW, Erin's cat Maddy does not have diabetes. But they are still waiting for blood results to rule out the big "C". The vet thinks it may have just been a fluke illness though.

I love how the ads today are for Blood Tests and Medicare!!

xo

[the odd broad]

Thanks for the support everyone! xoxo

I feel I should add a post script...Hubby has been testing Kittie's ears ever since this post! (Swine flu and all). And I've been giving her the insulin shots, which are a piece of cake now. The ear testing is still pretty tricky, though. But now I'm worried Kittie might catch the swine, with all that close contact? Sigh.

Kathleen, I'll keep my fingers crossed for the test results to be good news! I really hope so. You're right- the ads are totally Medicare and blood tests! So bizarre.